![]() When Epps comes home drunk, he first breaks whatever he can find in his own house. Epps uses his slaves as a means to satisfy his own craving for violence and sadistic entertainment. Though the racist system is absurd, it is the dominant worldview of Southern society at the time, and the evil it leads to is shown most clearly in the character of Epps. ![]() ![]() For example, when Solomon is initially being sold into slavery by slave dealer James Burch, he notices that one of the most famous slave dealers, Goodin, has “a complexion almost as dark as some of his own negros.” Later, while serving the vicious Edwin Epps, Solomon meets a runaway slave named Celeste, who is “far whiter than her owner, or any of his offspring.” Bass, the Canadian carpenter who eventually helps save Solomon, voices a similar sentiment, saying to Epps, “Talk about black skin, and black blood why, how many slaves are there on this bayou as white as either of us? And what difference is there in the color of the soul? Pshaw! The whole system is absurd as it is cruel.” Solomon and Bass make several references to slaves who look entirely white, or slave owners whose skin is as dark as their slaves. Solomon highlights that sometimes, racism doesn’t even seem to be about skin color as much as its about slave owners feeling justified in their cruelty. Since the Abolitionist Movement was strengthened by the Second Great Awakening-a Protestant revivalist movement that renewed Christians’ commitment to turning away from sin and living godly lives-Northup’s condemnation of racism as being a sin punishable by God appeals to the moral compass of his Northern readers.ġ2 Years a Slave illustrates how racism is a vehicle for human wickedness. Drawing upon his own Christian faith, he also highlights that racism, rooted in wickedness and human sin, is punishable by God. ![]() The overarching purpose of 12 Years a Slave is to reveal the heartbreaking realities of slavery for the sake of strengthening anti-slavery attitudes and furthering the Abolitionist Movement, so Northup’s assertion that racism is manmade and a means for human brutality ties neatly into this purpose. 12 Years a Slave clearly points out that racism is a learned behavior, not an inherent understanding that people are born with. The narrative illustrates how racism is an instrument for human wickedness-a justification for a slave owner to be unrelenting, cruel, and inhumane. It will be hard for audiences to see those images ever again without thinking about the savagery and injustice that propped them up.12 Years a Slave grapples with the racism that fuels slavery and Solomon Northup’s suffering. It's also a powerful corrective, because it so skillfully links that brutality to the sort of tranquil antebellum South that Hollywood has often peddled - the broad porches, the hoop skirts, the fields fluffy with cotton. Rife with visceral beatings, multiple lynchings and an almost casual air of psychological cruelty, 12 Years a Slave is anything but easy to watch, but it is powerfully moving. John Ridley's script brings both historical sweep and an urgent intimacy to Northup's story - no small accomplishment. McQueen keeps those scars - and the brutality that creates them - front and center in 12 Years a Slave, with incidents that scald, and searing supporting performances, particularly from Michael Fassbender (star of McQueen's previous art-house films Hunger and Shame) as a sadistic but strangely conflicted slave owner.īut it is Ejiofor - bewildered, sorely tested, morally towering - whose staggered dignity anchors the film. And when another slave accuses him of truckling to his master, he roars, "My back is thick with scars for protesting my freedom."
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